New Osgoode tax blog to provide forum for national and international tax conversation

TORONTO, July 14, 2020 – A new tax blog at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University promises to be an interesting, inspiring, provocative and thoughtful forum for tax conversation on topical fiscal and tax issues in Canada and around the world.

The “Tax at Osgoode Hall Law School” blog will feature regular contributions from Osgoode faculty members particularly those in the law school’s robust tax program, academics from other institutions, practitioners of various kinds, and others who are established in the field.

In addition, the blog will also actively encourage contributions from students, especially those in the LLM Tax program.

“This blog is for all students – students in the most expansive sense not just those enrolled in Osgoode’s academic programs but certainly including our own students who think about fiscal and tax matters, often more expansively than others, and who understand the importance of those matters in identifying and enabling constructive responses to any social and economic policy goals,” said J. Scott Wilkie, Distinguished Professor of Practice at Osgoode, one of the most high-profile tax practitioners in Canada, and principal curator of the blog.

Unlike blogs that are the exclusive dominion of their curators who publish short essays or commentaries about their own views, or blogs that simply link to the work of others, the “Tax at Osgoode Hall Law School” blog intends to be different in that its emphasis will be on conversation, Wilkie said.

“Contributors should not be self-conscious about either the scope or length of their comments. Not only are all contributions welcome but they need only be a sentence or a few. It is a conversation, and conversations are not orchestrated or scripted, they simply happen as interested and interesting interlocutors share ideas and experience. This is our hope for this blog.”

The blog was first conceived a few years ago by Osgoode tax law professors Jinyan Li, now Co-Director with Wilkie of the Professional LLM in Tax Law program, and Lisa Philipps, now Provost and Vice-President Academic of York University.

Li credits Wilkie and summer research assistant, JD student Corey LeBlanc, with bringing the “Tax at Osgoode Hall Law School” blog to fruition. “I’m deeply grateful to Professor Wilkie and Corey for giving life to the idea of a tax blog at Osgoode,” Li said.  “The timing is particularly significant as we all crave having meaningful conversations about tax and its impact on life during social distancing.”

Wilkie agrees that the present experience of governments around the world and of supranational organizations such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development with respect to COVID-19 “is possibly the clearest, most immediate and most easily understandable indication of how important fiscal and tax policy are, and further, as are the legislative and administrative ways to activate it, with both humanitarian and structural economic and regulatory considerations front of mind.”

Contributions to the “Tax at Osgoode Hall Law School” blog are welcome from academics, practitioners and law students. Generally, the type of contribution the blog is looking for is commentary on, or reaction to, a case, decision, news story, or legal development with respect to tax law.

The “Tax at Osgoode Hall Law School” blog can be found here: https://tax.osgoode.yorku.ca/

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About Osgoode Hall Law School
Osgoode Hall Law School of York University has a proud history of 131 years of leadership and innovation in legal education and legal scholarship. A total of about 900 students are enrolled in Osgoode’s three-year Juris Doctor (JD) Program as well as joint and combined programs. The school's highly selective Graduate Program in Law is also one of the finest in the country and one of the most highly regarded in North America. In addition, Osgoode Professional Development, which operates out of Osgoode’s facility in downtown Toronto, offers both degree and non-degree programming for Canadian and international lawyers, non-law professionals, firms and organizations. Osgoode has an internationally renowned faculty of 60 full-time professors, and more than 100 adjunct professors. Our respected community of more than 18,000 alumni are leaders in the legal profession and in many other fields in Canada and across the globe.

About York University

York University is known for championing new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-discipline programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. York students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world’s most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. York U is an internationally recognized research university – our 11 faculties and 26 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, York is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni. York U's fully bilingual Glendon campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

 Media Contacts:

Virginia Corner, Communications Manager, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, 416-736-5820, vcorner@osgoode.yorku.ca

Gloria Suhasini, York University Media Relations, 416-736-2100 ext. 22094, suhasini@yorku.ca